The raccoon is a very aggressive, invasive alien species that has a significant impact on the environment. and in autochthonous species due to their reproductive capacity, therefore a plan will be implemented to control them in the area around the Tagus River, up and down Madrid, which is the focus of expansion.
plan, which It will be jointly developed by Castilla-La Mancha, Madrid and the Ministry of Ecological Transition. and the Demographic Challenge (Miteco) will launch in January and will take the Tagus as its axis, which is used by this invasive species as a dispersal corridor, as explained to Efe by the head of the State Department’s Natural Areas Service. Development Sustainable Community Board, Antonio Aranda.
The goals are to determine how far this species has reached, and trying to control their populationbecause the raccoon has a significant reproductive capacity with a large number of offspring (up to four) per birth and can even give birth to up to two litters in a year.
At the same time, each offspring can reproduce the next year, allowing for exponential growth The number of specimens of the species if they find a suitable habitat, in this case Tagus and some of its tributaries, pointed out Aranda, who noted that the riverine environment is where the highest concentrations of invasive alien species occur.
Aranda stated that the plan will be developed in areas where raccoon specimens have been detected so that Castilla-La Mancha will be responsible for implementing the plan in the provinces of Guadalajara and Cuenca, the Community of Madrid in its territory. The ministry in which the existence of some specimens was also detected, from Aranjuez to Talavera de la Reina (Toledo).
trap patrols
To execute, each of the three administrations will be running at least a trap patrol of experts who will try to catch raccoons with certain traps to remove them from the natural environment and prevent the species from continuing to spread.
Moreover, they will also catch specimens of two other invasive alien species Like the raccoon dog and the American mink, the Aranda, which may be in the Tagus environment, has advanced.
The existence of the raccoon in the natural environment is based on specimens that were brought as pets and then released by their owners, when they were not yet classified as an invasive alien species (over 20 years ago). In reality, it is not a pet that should be kept at home, but it is “unpleasant and aggressive”.
Madrid, the focal point of the distribution
The homeland of raccoons in the Tagus region is Madrid., because large cities are the focus of the spread of this species. Therefore, there is evidence that in 2003 there were already stray raccoons around the capital of Spain, where they then went to Castilla-La Mancha.
The raccoon is an animal that expands with the breeding of a large number of specimens and uses river beds as a distribution corridor The head of the Natural Areas Service of the Ministry of Sustainable Development of Castilla-La Mancha gave detailed information on going to colonize other regions.
Likewise, he pointed out that the dispersal process of the species started in young individuals, especially males looking for a place to settle. Therefore, the first aim of the control plan is to find out if there are already established populations or if animals seen in different areas disperse young specimens that have not yet settled in the area.
Compete with native species
In the expansion process, It competes for territory with other autochthonous mesoppredator species (middle predators) such as raccoon, badger, otter, marten or marten.
This place competition can lead to the extinction of native species, As was already the case with the Pyrenees desman, a species already highly threatened and where the presence of exotics was “the last straw,” Aranda assured.
The Pyrenean desman has almost disappeared from the entire Central System, The head of the Natural Areas Service pointed out that only a small bastion remains in a gorge in Gredos, where he was also located.
This is an example of what can happen to invasive species in the environment because there is a group that preys on endangered native species such as turtles, crabs or some fish species.
In this sense, Aranda has argued that he will also work with the raccoon dog and the American mink, taking advantage of the fact that he will work with the raccoon, because as he points out, it is like “recovery of the blue species.” Desman is not possible if we do not pre-control the invasive alien species”.
Evaluating that the plan to be implemented will provide important information about the situation in addition to working for the control of the raccoon, Aranda said that the aim should be to remove them from the natural environment. The extreme points of the central focus that is Madrid”.
Source: Informacion
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